I have the K2, K2DMD. A wonderful camera. In fact, at one time I had 8 K2 bodies, 2 K2DMDs, winders, etc. etc. I sold one DMD and a winder/remote cord/grip to finance an LX purchase. Haven't got it yet, but it will be my next purchase. The K2 had everything one might want from a semi pro positioned manual focus camera. The 125th flash sync is much nicer than 1/60th; the exposure lock was way ahead of its time and very useful. The DMD mechanical trick of having a little periscope to read the aperture setting (won't work on all off brand lenses though) is clever. The DMD other trick of having a red window appear in the viewfinder to alert the photographer of exposure compensation being used is also a neat "mechanical" accomplishment.
But all of these neat little features on the K2, and DMD are available as electronic bells and whistles on succeeding generations of Pentax models, on smaller lighter bodies, with lots of things added later on to make them even more "user friendly". The blasphemous point I'm approaching here is this: If you want a camera with lots of features for picture taking, get an ME super, or for even more features, a super program, or a program plus, or add some more features plus autofocus with a PZ 1 or PZ 20, or if better autofocus is required, then ZX (MZ) 5n, or 7. The K2s and DMD I have are toys, beautiful, expensive, finely crafted, precision engineered, but they are my toys. The bulk of picture taking I do for other people is invariably taken with the later models, in particular, the PZ1 first, then the PZ 20, and the super program as the third option. I just like to have better assurance of success, like having TTL flash, mainly. Plus, these cameras are lighter, and plenty enough robust for the "semi-pro" use I give them. In fact, the PZ1 has survived several drops (one of them about 4 feet onto concrete-- survived with only an abrasion to the corner) If I drop one of my k2s, they'll invariable be a dent there, and the value of the camera for resale has probably just dropped $100..... Now, of course I haven't even mentioned the screw mount cameras and lenses. They might even be as good a solution as the K2 for someone who wanted a manual focus camera. The spotmatic F has full frame averaging metering, probably not as good as K2's center weighted, advanced meter. But the screw mount lenses are out there in the thousands, and I've got a complete set of SMC T prime lenses up to the 400, and spent less than $1000..... well, that's probably too long-winded of me already.... but, there you have my 2 cents. Sid - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
